Sonic PAWS Shadow’s heart
by Mellowccino
Summary: The very beginning of the story of the PAWS family... Learn more about Shadow, Maria and Sonic in this prequel to The Dawn of Sonic PAWS. Contains mild violence.


Shadow walked his way home. The Earth sure was much bigger than the ARK, but he was getting used to it. They didn't go too far from the village for now, to avoid getting lost until they knew the place better.

The black hedgehog smiled, enjoying the fresh air and the sun setting behind the trees. He was crossing the river, jumping from a rock to another, but froze in the middle of the way when he heard a kid's cry. It was a bit hard to know where it was coming from due to the noise of the rushing waters, but he didn't have to look around for long.

 _Splash!_ Shadow turned around and saw, a tiny, blue hedgehog yelping and trying desperately to climb one of the rocks. He was very young and clearly very afraid, probably never learned how to swim. The hoglet's paws grabbed a rock, but he couldn't push himself up, and he seemed to be getting tired from fighting the current.

Shadow decided to act; he jumped in the water as close to scared hoglet as he could. But maybe that wasn't the best idea. Yelping in fright because of the sudden appearance of another person, his paws slipped from the rock and he sank in the rushing water. He grunted at his own mistake and dived.

He swam as fast as he could to reach the little kid who, despite many struggles, kept sinking deeper into the river. Shadow finally caught him - he was barely bigger than the palm of his hand - and emerged from the water.

Finally getting to the other side of the river, Shadow sat down in the grass to catch his breath. Meanwhile, the hoglet coughed and gasped, shaking from the cold and the scary experience. Shadow decided to take a better look at him, petting his back to help him calm down. He was blue, with a peach belly, muzzle and arms, green eyes, and a notch on the right ear - it seemed like he got that recently. When he started breathing calmly, Shadow started to speak. "You shouldn't be out here alone, you know..."

He only got a squeak in response. Shadow scratched his head. "You don't understand what I'm saying, do you?" The hoglet just blinked. Maria told him that other people weren't born the same as he was. If this little guy was as young as he seemed, he probably didn't know how to speak yet. Well that was _just great._

Shadow got up and grabbed the ridiculously small hoglet with a hand and crossed the river safely. "I hope you know your way home, because it's getting dark..." he grunted, going the same way he assumed the young hedgehog came from.

For Shadow's surprise, then, when the little guy realized what way he was taking him, he yelped and quickly jumped from his hand and ran back to the border of the river. "How the heck... how did you do that?!" he was starting to lose patience, going back to try to pick him up again, but he whined and stepped back. "I'm trying to help you..." he sighed tiredly. The hoglet then looked behind Shadow and started to cry in fear. Looking over his shoulder, Shadow saw some robots that didn't seem very friendly, whatever they were doing there. That was probably why he was running away, but that also meant he wouldn't be able to find his home alone.

Shadow felt the tiny guy hug his leg, whimpering. He looked down at his own paws, trying to move them a little to make him let go, but he just gripped tighter and whimpered louder. Shadow sighed. "What do I do to you...?" The hoglet squeaked again.

Shadow looked up. The sun had almost disappeared in the horizon, he needed to get home quickly to not worry Maria too much, and that blue hoglet wouldn't let go of him - then again, he would have a huge weight on his conscience if he left him there to die - so he made a decision. "Alright, come here..." he picked him up again and crossed the river, starting to walk towards his own home. When he was in the middle of the way, the hoglet was sleeping on his hand. Shadow smiled a little and continued to walk.


End file.
